iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I’m judging this year’s @clmporg.bsky.social Firecracker Award for Fiction. Publishers, get your entries in!

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Querying one manuscript. Starting on two more. Writing is a disease.

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

At last month’s Oʻahu Indie Book Festival pop-up, Cass Kim asked Shay Kauwe, CL Walters, and me, “If there was one moment you could go back and relive during your writing and publishing journey, what would it be?” Read my response here: substack.com/home/post/p-... #writerslife #writingaboutwriting

substack.com

Lessons from my Second Book's First Year

or What I Wish I Knew for My First Book

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Community of Literary Magazines & Presses (CLMP) @clmporg.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Congratulations to THE CHOREIC PERIOD: POEMS by Latif Askia Ba, published by @milkweededitions.bsky.social, the winner of the 2026 #FirecrackerAward in Poetry! 🧨 milkweed.org/book/the-cho...

A vivid blue graphic with fireworks, the cover of THE CHOREIC PERIOD: POEMS by Latif Askia Ba, and text reading "Winner of the 2026 Firecracker Award in Poetry.”

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

If you attended yesterday, you’ll probably know how shocked and stunned I was when they announced this award. Thank you to CLMP and to the judges. Thank you my wife. Thank you to Craig Howes and Kristiana Kahakauwila. Thank you to Bamboo Ridge. Thank you to the many writers here in Hawai‘i.

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Community of Literary Magazines & Presses (CLMP) @clmporg.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Congratulations to Elastic, the winner of the 2026 #FirecrackerAward in Magazines/Best Debut! 🧨 www.elasticmag.com

A vivid blue graphic with fireworks, the cover of Elastic, and text reading "Winner of the 2026 Firecracker Award in Magazines/Best Debut.”

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Tomorrow is the @clmporg.bsky.social award ceremony for the Firecracker awards. Super anxious and excited to find out the results. Congratulations to all the finalists. To even have Blood Work be considered with such amazing work and authors is a win.

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

So grateful and honored. Thank you to the judges and to @clmporg.bsky.social ❤️❤️❤️

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Excited to be leading a fiction workshop on writing characters with “intimacy and grace” at the O‘ahu Writers Retreat next week.

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

This is just to say I’m done with the first chapter. 5,000 words down, 75k to go, 500 words a day. Aiming to be done by the end of the summer.

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

The first chapter is always the test. If I can finish writing the chapter without losing energy, interest, or motivation and see the shape of the rest of the narrative, I know the story has potential.

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Still querying my cli-fi manuscript and just started on a speculative novel about trauma and time travel. You’d think I’d know better by now.

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Join me Friday, March 27th from 1:00 to 2:00 PM at @uhhilo, Campus Center Room 301! I'll be talking 'Blood Work' and the challenges and joys of writing fiction about life in contemporary Hawai'i. bambooridge.org/bookstore/blood-work-and-other-stories/ #hawaiibooks #litmag #smallpress #readlocal

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

If you're in the #querytrenches and not getting any requests or offers, keep in mind that Robert Olen Butler, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, just got rejected by 36 agents after submitting to AWP's Writer to Agent program.

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Been writing for close two decades and every year I’m like, maybe I’m pau already. Then, you know, I get back to writing.

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

New year means new opportunities to engage and put yourself out there. Querying again feels good even when it doesn’t. Lots of events lined up. Blessed that my toddler is toddling and causing chaos.

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Ernie Chiara @erniechiara.com · 04/02/2026

Hey, y’all. I’ve been closed to new queries for a while now. But I’ll be reopening from Feb 9th to Feb 15th for one week only. To see what I’m looking for, check out my MSWL at erniechiara.com/mswl!

erniechiara.com

MSWL ⟡ Manuscript Wish List for Ernie Chiara

Check out Ernie's Manuscript Wishlist to find out more about what he's looking for.

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Writing goals always shine brightest in January ✍️✨ Let me help you meet yours! @bambooridge.bsky.social One entry per person. No cash value. #writinggoals #writinglife

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Join me and some of my favorite writers. It’s going to be an amazing event. RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/br-virtual...

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

New post up. Shout out to Lorde for inspiring this story. www.bambooridge.org/hashtag/the-...

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

"With so much change, what remains? What’s recognizable when nothing is?" In my latest post, I share some of the inspiration behind my short story “What We Forget.” www.bambooridge.org/hashtag/the-... #hawaiiliterature #hawaiibooks #hawaiiwriters #localvoices #localliterature #indiepublishing

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

Mahalo to Don Wallace and everyone at The Hawaiʻi Review of Books for featuring an excerpt from Blood Work. And thank you to Scott Kikkawa for including one of my stories from the collection, "Who you Know," in his latest column of crime. Check out both here: hawaiireviewofbooks.com

hawaiireviewofbooks.com

The Hawaiʻi Review of Books

By, for and about those who read, write and engage with the Islands.

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Chestnut Review @chestnutreview.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

Submissions for our winter issue are open now through September 30th! Share your best work in any of our five categories: ✏️ Poetry 📸 Flash 📃 Prose 🖼️ Visual Art & Photography 🎨 Mixed-Genre & Mixed-Media For more info, click link in bio.

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D. Carreira Ching, PhD @mistahdonald.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

My new short story collection, Blood Work and Other Stories, is now available. What we carry. What we inherit. What we leave behind. Seventeen stories of connection and survival in a place caught between what’s sacred and what’s sold. www.bambooridge.org/bookstore/bl...

bambooridge.org

Blood Work and Other Stories - Bamboo Ridge Press

What we carry. What we inherit. What we leave behind. Seventeen stories of connection and survival in a place caught between what’s sacred and what’s sold. On the Windward side...

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jenn (is querying and writing) @kotegentarri.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

A MASTERY OF SELF ݁₊ ⊹ . 📽.ᐟ an actor is trapped in a nightmare of an identity crises after playing too many roles🖤 -speculative hollywood -friends to lovers - eldritch horror or real doppleganger? #questpit #W #A #H #S #R

A collage of vintage noir images featuring a man in a suit, shattered mirror reflection, puppet strings, surreal eyes, and intense facial expressions. The tone is mysterious and dramatic.

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elena @greerswriting.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

LADY MACBETH X THE UNWORTHY trapped in her husbands manor, and surveilled by his monsters, miriam can feel her sanity slipping, falling further into the role of the helpless wife hes always wanted until a shadow takes a liking to her, and she doesnt tell him #questpit #w #a #h

a nine image moodboard in black and white tones. from right to left, the images are
1. a woman with black hair, dressed in a white dress, sitting against a brick wall with her knees pulled to her chest
2. black liquid on a white surface
3. a closeup of a lamb with its legs ties together
4. sugar cubes with ants crawling on it
5. a two story black brick manor
6. an x-ray of a skull, the veins black
7. a vial holder lined with six empty, clear glass vials. they are labeled a through f on fading scotch tape
8. a white image with black text in the center, reading "new miriam-exemplary miriam-watched her husband's operation with the empty feeling of nothingness, of numbness and apathy
9. a person covered in black tar, their hands on the ground, pushing themselves upwards

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Elaine Buckner @elainebuckner.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Hostel X No Strings Attached On their cruise getaway, two women give in to attraction, redefining their friendship—while pranksters fueled by a sadistic online audience exploit passengers for entertainment, sending their cruise into peril. #QuestPit #A #H #R #H #LGBT #W

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elena @greerswriting.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

WHEN AMONG CROWS X MALIBU RISING nona callewart is gone. she plans to stay that way. unfortunately, she never gets her way. aided by her abandoned diary, her two least favorite people try to find her as she attempts to put the pieces of her life back together #questpit #w

a nine image moodboard in warm tones, mainly beige, light green and blues. from left to right, the images are
1. a brunette woman in an oversized white coat, leaning against a table with her head resting on her arms
2. a stack of used journals
3. a bus with orange text above the windshield reading "nowhere in particular" on the outside screen
4. an o positive blood bag
5. lyrics from the song 'nettles' by ethel cain, reading "to love me is to suffer me / and i believe that"
6. a map with several multicolored threads ties to thumbtacks
7. a newspaper heading reading MISSING
8. the downtown of a city, with an elevated train track in the center of the road
9. a pale person with black painted nails washing their hands under a faucet

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Elaine Buckner @elainebuckner.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

My Darling Dreadful Thing X The Wicked Deep When Clover's empathic abilities awaken, a ghostly presence visits her dreams, offering escape from others' emotions. But as kindness turns to obsession, Clover suspects they want to inhabit, not liberate. #QuestPit #Q #YA #DF #H #PR

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elena @greerswriting.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

TLOU X BIRD BOX eleven years after an apocalypse, merrick is making the trek across the country to a so-called safe zone. its just her luck she ends up stuck traveling with her former best friend, who also happens to be the cause of the aforementioned apocalypse #questpit #w

a nine image moodboard in brown and dark yellow tones. from left to right, the images are
1. a pale woman with brown hair and bloody eyes, looking as if she's either angry or about to cry
2. a shipping train in the plains
3. a destroyed city
4. a bomber jacket on the back of a car seat
5. two people, a man and a woman, in a field of flowers
6. the floor of a hotel room, light just barely seeping through the crack in the curtains
7. the side of a hill, with ice and pine trees
8. a light yellow image with black text in the center reading "Andrew Skinner's grateful smile, with the gleam of recognition in his eyes, was enough to light the universe, and Merrick wanted to kick his teeth in."
9. a closeup of a pale man with hazel eyes and glasses' face

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Elaine Buckner @elainebuckner.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Jane Eyre Retelling Luna's rearview mirror reflects a shattered life but Thornfield Hotel offers a fresh start. As concierge, she's swept into a world of secrets, seduction & murder with the enigmatic E Rochester at its center & her heart & survival in the crosshairs. #QuestPit #A #H #RF #DR #LF #Q

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auriel » We Leave the Elves Out Now @naughtingwell.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

We Leave the Elves is a short story following a man certifiably brings people together for his special brand of charisma. Just not in the way he would hope. An #urbanfantasy delight with a twist on the elven race. It's out now! And I hope you enjoy. books2read.com/u/bpVORX

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🌱 El(iza)beth 🌬️ K 🔥 T 🌊 @arachnereid.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Long after the dust settles, what will grow from the rubble? Experience a vision of #hope, growth, and transformation, on a mindful tarot-themed odyssey across the former US Clan of the Cave Bear meets A Psalm for the Wild-Built in this adventure guide to thriving the apocalypse #QuestPit #Q #S #A

a Hermit tarot card of an illuminated figure holding up a lantern in a colorful swamp

climate fiction
#clifi
indigenous futurism
plant medicine
meditation
wilderness
permaculture
neotribalism
community
backpacking
post-apocalyptic
hopepunk

a Priestess Tarot card with a figure meditating on a large stone in the woods

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Dawn Berkoski @dawnberkoski.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

PITCH: In a world controlled by corporate vampires, two men struggle for autonomy. Will a chance meeting lead them to freedom~or a web of subterfuge, where every thread brings a monster offering death or permanent confinement? #YouDeservepIt 📖 💙📚 #Q #R Power Hungry CEO x Abandoned Puppy Bartender

Comp Board

I Am Chosen by Dawn Berkoski

PITCH: In a world controlled by corporate vampires, two men struggle for autonomy. Will a chance meeting lead them to freedom, or a web of subterfuge, where every thread brings a monster offering death or permanent confinement?

Power Hungry CEO x Abandoned Puppy, Bartender

COMP TITLES
Interview With The Vampire
A Blue Bloods Novel
Yakuza

I Am Chosen
By Dawn Berkoski
77,000 M/M Paranormal Romance
Dark and a little spicy meets silly-sweet

Think:
Blue Bloods (minus the angels and school) x Interview With The Vampire (add more humor) x Japanese Yakuza (cracking skulls in London)

Tropes
* Forbidden Love
* Fish Out of Water
* Forced Proximity
* Dark Secrets
* Unequal Power Structure
* High Action Chase Scenes
* Emotional Growth Arcs + Satisfying End

Quotes

"He was leaving. He was leaving New York for good. But instead of freedom, he wondered if he was headed toward greater danger."
~Jason Allard (Protagonist)

"Now that he has chosen you, Alexander has all but forsaken our protection!"
~Tristan De La Salle (Thwarted Lover)

"Alexander and I have unfinished business."
-Shigekazu (Japanese Business Rival)

MAIN CHARACTERS
Alexander Grant Jason Allard
CEO of M-Corp Bartender
Control Issues Anxiety/Clingy
Likes: Likes:
Power + Money. Video Games +Pizza

Several photos are shown in this Moodboard for I Am Chosen, a paranormal romance written by Dawn Berkoski. From the top left, a glass of aged scotch surrounded by butterscotch candies, a CEO standing in a high rise office, staring out a window, a giant hotel clock surrounded by Christmas decor, a photo of art depicting demons rising from hell, a sunset with black, billowy clouds hovering over an orange stripe, a dirty cement staircase near a darkened entrance, and the city of London as viewed from the river. Photography, except the man, by Dawn Berkoski

Photo by Dawn Berkoski of a car speeding past a cemetery.View is from the driver’s perspective, looking out the side window.

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B. van Bodegom 📃is AGENTED @bvbodegom.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

BLACK MIRROR × SEVERANCE × THE GOOD PLACE Having a happy death is a luxury service for the rich and Wren is the rising top salesman—until a cynical coworker and a depressed billionaire force him to rethink it all in a world where even your last smile has a price tag. #QuestPit #A #S #SF #W

This image is a book cover design for a novel titled "Happy Death Inc." by B. Van Bodegom. The cover is divided into three distinct horizontal sections:

1. Top Section: Features a cartoonish blue sky with white clouds and a bright sun. At the top, a tagline reads:
"How much would you pay to die with a smile?"
The word "HAPPY" appears in large, playful, hand-drawn-style font, partially overlapping the sky background.

2. Middle Section: A photograph of a deceased man in a suit, lying in a casket. He has an exaggerated smile on his face, almost unnaturally wide and clean, suggesting artificial enhancement or post-mortem alteration. Overlaid on this image is the word "DEATH" in the same large font as the previous word.

3. Bottom Section: A cartoon city skyline in pastel tones, similar in style to the top sky background. The word "INC." is overlaid prominently in the same large font. At the very bottom, in smaller capital letters, it says:
"A Novel by B VAN BODEGOM"

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Sara Duran ✨is AGENTED✨ @saraduran.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

I’m excited to share this #pitchcard for THE PIRATE, THE PRINCESS, and JOHN, the YA fantasy novel I #amquerying, feat: 🏴‍☠️ LGBTQIA+ rep 👑 non-western setting 🌸 anti-colonial lens 🏴‍☠️ girls w/ swords 👑 besties-to-lovers 🌸 friendship > everything #QuestPit #YA #F #LGBT #Q

A pitch card for YA fantasy The Pirate, The Princess, and John by @saraduranauthor, marked “Now Querying” with a gold star noting “5 full requests and counting.” The book is a standalone, complete at 82,000 words.

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